Area selection zones not working

[dsoup]

Someone please point out my foolish error.

The M-Fn button won't toggle through the different AF Selection modes.

Canon 5D Mark III
Manual mode
One Shot

I have selected all (or other combinations) of AF area selection modes from AF menu 4 (which means I should be able to toggle between them with the M-Fn button after pressing the AF Point Selection Button.

I should be able to:
Press the AF Point Selection Button (the one on the upper right that looks like a checkerboard)
Press M-Fn one or more times to toggle through AF area selection modes (Spot AF, Expand AF Area, Expand AF Area Surround, Manual Select or Auto Selection of 61 pt AF).
What is actually does is just toggle off/on the indicator in the viewfinder that show which AF point is selected (not the selection mode).

I also tried in on AI Servo, with the same response.

And, yes, I did check to make sure that the AF area selection method is set to M-Fn in AF Menu 4 (and not to Main Dial).

I also tried with two different lenses, since some of the focus system functionality is lens dependent.

What have I got set somewhere to restrict this functionality?

[dsoup]

I think its a bug in the software, mine started working but the moment i put a radio trigger on the hotshoe it stopped and hasn't worked since either through the viewfinder or the LCD really weird. I only use single spot zones anyway and that works ok but I can not chooes different af zones and trust me I have been through everything!

[joke]

Interesting.  I have heard that Canon does not allow 3rd party flashes.  I purchased a small SunPak fill flash, since the Mark III doesn't come with one.  I used it once, and have not been able to get the AF selection mode to work since.  Maybe the hotshoe of a 3rd party device shorts something out???

[dsoup]

I doubt it's hardware I think it's a software glitch myself. I use pocket wizards and a nissin di866 mk 2. I can't believe very one with 5d mk 3's use only canon gear. At least you can still choose af zones via the viewfinder that's still workable! If you solve it please let me know.

[joke]

dsoup, 

I finally called Canon Customer Support.  We wound up reseting the C-Fn and Clearing all Camera settings (admittedly resulting in my having to spend a lot of time to reset...).  But it did fix the issue.  The panel on the top of the camera does not change via design, it only reflects SEL [  ]  (and [ __ ] AF) .  But the large LCD on the back of the camera does work.

If I press the INFO button on the back of the camera (3 times) to bring up the Settings menu (Av/P/Tv, Shutterspeed, Aperature, ISO, etc), then press the 3rd button on the right behiind the top panel (AF point selection button - looks like a square with 5 dots in it), it brings up the 6 AF selection modes on the back of the camera.  Immediately pressing the M-Fn button (behind the shutter release) toggles through the selection points.

BTW, this didn't work at all until I reset everything.  Go figure.  It works now. 

Hope that helps.

The Canon Cust Serv folks were extremely helpful.  It may be worth a call into them.

[dsoup]

Thanks buddy I'll give it a go.

Much appreciated and thanks for getting back to me!

[dsoup]

Hi mate,

Did you manage to fix this? I'm still having the same problem.

Many thanks.

[AndyShust]

Hello everyone.

I bumped into this problem some days ago. Only resetting camera settings (not custom functions) helped. I thought it would be useful to write this here.

Still no cue why the AF selection stopped working. I suspect connecting my camera to an Android tablet with DSLR Controller app, which might have messed up or locked the ability to choose AF points.

[cpstephens]

This is happening to me, M-Fn will not scroll / select the AF modes, i am stuck on single point? i reset everything as pointed in the thread and still no joy. i reset everything of this 5d3 to another one that does not have this problem . could it be a firmware issue, the problematic one is 1.2.3, its a used  5d3 with 43k actuations, 

[RobertTheFat]

---

@cpstephens wrote:

This is happening to me, M-Fn will not scroll / select the AF modes, i am stuck on single point? i reset everything as pointed in the thread and still no joy. i reset everything of this 5d3 to another one that does not have this problem . could it be a firmware issue, the problematic one is 1.2.3, its a used  5d3 with 43k actuations, 

---

The 5D3 is now at 1.3.5, (At least that's where mine is.) So you might as well start by upgrading yours.

[Waddizzle]

---

@cpstephens wrote:

This is happening to me, M-Fn will not scroll / select the AF modes, i am stuck on single point? i reset everything as pointed in the thread and still no joy. i reset everything of this 5d3 to another one that does not have this problem . could it be a firmware issue, the problematic one is 1.2.3, its a used  5d3 with 43k actuations, 

---

Did you reset Custom Controls, too?  The M.Fn might be reprogrammed to another function.  A “Restore Factory Defaults” reset does not clear Custom Controls.  Custom Controls have their own separate reset function in the Custom Controls menu.

Did you check the settings on the “Lock” settings button?  I don’t think a “Restore Factory Defaults” resets that setting, either.  You can select which buttons are disabled, and which are not.

All told, there are at least 3 places in the menus that you need to visit to fully reset the camera.  You could also turn the top dial to Green [A] mode, which should disable most every custom programming setting.